2012 The Crater Rim Gibbston Pinot Noir, Otago

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a single low cropping vineyard in the Gibbston Valley region. This has produced a structured wine with layers of red stone fruit, spice and savoury characters.

In the winery the fruit was immediately de-stemmed. The wine was naturally fermented by wild yeast in wooden, open-top fermenters. After fermentation the wine is macerated on skins until we thought the balance between tannin and flavours was perfect. The wine is transferred into a mix of seasoned, 1, 2 and 3 year old French oak barrels where it matured on fermentation lees for 18 months. The wine underwent natural spontaneous malo-lactic fermentation the following spring before being racked into tank for blending and equalizing before being bottled unfined and lightly filtered on 21st November 2013.

Aromas of red cherry, baking spice and wild herbs. The palate has an attack with red fruit flavours. Fine, structured tannins adds texture complimented by fresh acidity on the finish.